DURHAM, N.C. – Blue Devil women’s basketball incoming freshmen Lynee Belton, Sierra Calhoun and Azura Stevens are three of the nation’s top 18-and-unders who have accepted invitations to participate in the 2014 USA Basketball U18 National Team Trials.

The trials, scheduled to be held May 24-26 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be used to select the 12-member team that will compete in the USA Basketball-hosted 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championship at the USOTC from Aug. 6-10.

Belton, who is out of Clinton, Md., was a McDonald’s All-America selection as a senior and tallied 1,254 points and 1,009 rebounds over her four-year prep career at the Bullis School.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Calhoun also played in the McDonald’s All-America game and was the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of New York. She averaged 24.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.0 steals a senior at Christ the King.

Stevens is coming off a senior campaign where she averaged 28.4 points and 18.1 rebounds for Cary H.S. A product of Raleigh, N.C., Stevens was the District Player of the Year and Max Preps All-America this past season.

Athletes invited to participate in the USA U17 National Team Trials are also eligible for selection to the USA U18 National Team and may be asked to contend to be a part of the 12-member roster.

The six trials sessions will be held in Sports Center 1, with two sessions on May 24, starting at 11:00 a.m. (all times are MDT) and 4 p.m. The May 25 sessions tip-off at 10:45 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.; while on May 26, trials will begin at 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., followed by the U18 team announcement that evening.

The 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championship will feature eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, including: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. The top four finishing teams will qualify for the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women.

South Carolina’s Dawn Staley will be the head coach along with assistants Kim Barnes Arico (University of Michigan) and Jeff Walz (University of Louisville) of the U18 squad.